Dear Interim Dean Cutler,

As a former member of the Harvard community (DEAS 1995–2003) and an old friend of Professor Cemal Kafadar, I was shocked beyond words by the charges of antisemitism that led to his abrupt dismissal.

I first met Cemal in high school in Istanbul, our common home town where he was raised in a Muslim household, I in a Jewish one. In the half century plus that I have known him, I have never heard him utter a single word that might be interpreted as hate speech against anyone or any group, be it on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexuality, or any other category. On the contrary, he has always struck me as a true humanist. 

Where the Ottoman Empire is generally viewed by Turkish scholars as a “Turkish” empire, Cemal has always maintained that what made it an “empire” was precisely its multi-ethnic, multi-confessional nature. Indeed, it was Cemal who first introduced me to the works of such Israeli historians of Ottoman Jewry as Amnon Cohen and Aryeh Shmuelevitz.

We are living through a period of rising intolerance, and while I do understand that universities find themselves between a rock and a hard place, I would have hoped that Harvard (where I first cross-registered in Spring 1974 while a nineteen-year-old sophomore at MIT) would have the moral courage to rise above the threats emanating from Washington.

If Cemal is concerned by Israel’s aggression in the occupied territories, well, so am I, and so are very many others, including many Jews and indeed many Israeli Jews. The idea that a concern for Palestine’s history and present travails makes one antisemitic is repulsive. Not only that, it suggests that Jews are united in their support for Israel’s policies and thus plays into the stereotype of Jews as clannish and homogeneous.

Personally, I maintain that Israel is committing textbook genocide in Gaza; and as the son of a Czech Jew who lost almost his entire family in the Holocaust, I would challenge anyone—Anyone—to dare label me an antisemite.

Sincerely,

Irvin Cemil Schick, B.S., M.S., Ph.D. (MIT), Ph.D. (EHESS)
Semi-retired, currently adjunct at UMass Amherst, Department of Political Science

Re: CMES, Cemal Kafadar

Dear Professor Schick:
 
Thank you for taking the time to write to me. I very much appreciate it.
 
I understand the strength of your sentiments. Let me assure you of a few things. First, I have seen absolutely no evidence that Professor Kafadar is an antisemite. I do not believe this, have never said it, and do not know of anyone who has said it. If you see references to this, please let me know, and I will correct them. Second, Harvard has no desire to restrict anyone’s speech. On the contrary, we wish to expand the ability of all voices to participate in discussion. We have University-wide as well as School-specific leadership on this, and we are committed to following through. Third, I caution you against assuming that any action taken by Harvard is because of “threats emanating from Washington.” Of course, all of higher education is under threat from the current administration. But that does not mean that Harvard’s actions are driven by any real or perceived threat.

Best,

David Cutler

Re: CMES, Cemal Kafadar

Thank you very much for your reply.

Unfortunately, the abrupt decision to remove Cemal from a position that he has served with distinction, coupled with such factors as the relentless campaign by internet trolls against him and Rabbi David Wolpe’s celebratory tweet, have left the distinct impression that Cemal was indeed accused of antisemitism, or at the very least of bias.

As Shakespeare famously put it,

Good name in man and woman, dear my lord,
Is the immediate jewel of their souls.
Who steals my purse steals trash; 'tis something, nothing;
'Twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands;
But he that filches from me my good name
Robs me of that which not enriches him,
And makes me poor indeed.

All the best,

Irvin Cemil Schick